Casino Jack and the United States of Money
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: May 7, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Arizona RepublicBill Goodykoontz
What's breathtaking here is the scope of greed, corruption, arrogance and above all cynicism on display, not just regarding the system of government but the people it ostensibly serves. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
Tonally, it all makes sense, but there’s such a thing as overmuchness. Gibney laudably launches a withering attack here on the pay-to-play relationship between lobbyists and lawmakers. But this viewer felt withered, too, by the end of his battering ram of a movie. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Abramoff may be in prison but the mindset that produced him -- and the pay-to-play government it needs to survive -- is triumphant. Read full review
70
Boxoffice MagazinePete Hammond
A fascinating, strangely funny and remarkable film about events so incredible you'll likely have a hard time believing what you see onscreen. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
As Gibney follows Abramoff through the decades, he traces a solid line from Reagan’s mantra of deregulation to the financial collapse of 2008, showing how three decades of procapitalist lobbying have pushed most Americans out into the cold. Read full review
83
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Ultimately, the blight is so overwhelming that the film collapses from corruption overload. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Casino Jack is really a look at how the culture of Washington was rebuilt to sell itself to the highest bidder. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
A film that's always on the move, a smart, lively, thoroughly involving doc about a complex, critical subject. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
The amount of information the viewer is asked to process is voluminous and never stops coming. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
Gibney does finally kick the focus off Abramoff to bemoan the legalized-bribery system that’s the rule, not the exception. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
As one interviewee opines: "It's all about the money." Read full review
74
NPRIan Buckwalter
The narrative trots all over the globe, including stops for labor exploitation in the Marianas Islands, dealings with Russian mobsters, ripping off Indian tribes in the desert southwest, and jetting to Scotland for rounds of golf with impressionable politicians. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
As entertaining as it is exasperating. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
Prolific documentarian Alex Gibney takes a labyrinthine, detail-laden story and crafts an attention-holding film, polemical without ranting. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Gibney has enough material for a dozen movies here, but his attempt at an overview, however unwieldy, paints one hell of a nauseating picture. Read full review
90
Village VoiceF. X. Feeney
Indispensable viewing. Read full review
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